Tomorrow We'll See
by Mishiko Shinsei
Summary: AU. What if Washu and Kagato were partners? Rated for language and content. Vague descriptions of rape. NOT a happygolucky story! Disclaimer: Just own the words, not the folks.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I just own the words, not the folks.

**I Step Into His Van - Chapter 1 **

Glancing sideways, Tenchi's stunned by the light blue aura of power surrounding her.

It's radiating pure energy. He can't exactly sense any emotions from her, but he can tell that the energy is being contained somehow. As he focuses more, he can see faint cracks in whatever "cage" is attempting to hold it.

"What's your name," he asks casually.

Her response is so low, he barely hears it.

"Ryoko."

"That's an unusual name. What does it mean?"

"Demon-caller," she says a little louder.

"Hmmph, that's almost as bad as mine; Tenchi. It means, 'heaven and earth'. You ever hear anything so over-the-top," he laughs.

"No," she agrees.

"Well, I've been teased about it all my life. Got beat up a few times too," he chuckles. "I'll bet you got all kinds of 'Demon' taunts."

"A few."

He eyes her significantly.

"Okay, a LOT," she confesses.

"Kids can be real assholes sometimes, can't they", he laughs.

A small but genuine smile crosses Ryoko's face.

'It's good talking to him,' she reflects.

No one had actually talked to her in a very long time. They usually want to humiliate her. Or beat her up once they found she could heal herself from minor wounds and bruises. That's also when they'd want to act out some violent rape fantasy or something equally depraved. Kagato knew what some of them planned to do to her and he didn't care; at least not until she started killing the bastards.

Many times, after she'd killed one, she'd run off, desperate to get far enough away that Kagato couldn't reach her, but he always 'forced' her back.

'Once, he let me go for almost 2 weeks', she remembers to herself.

Being free for so long strengthened her resolve to get away for good.

'And one day,' she glowers, 'I will kill him.'

"So where are you from," Tenchi's voice breaks through her thoughts.

"I-I…….I don't know", she stammers, momentarily stopping in her tracks. Not knowing where she came from, or, in fact, any of her personal history is one of her most painful traumas. All she knows is her name and that Washu's her mom and Kagato is her step-dad. Her brow wrinkles with a frown again at the thought of Kagato, her hatred of him more pure than any emotion she's ever experienced.

Realizing that he's inadvertently caused her pain; Tenchi frowns slightly.

"I'm from a planet called Earth. It's such a backwater hole that I'm sure you've never heard of it."

"No," she whispers, working to regain her composure.

"I guess it's not really all that bad. I was just bored there. Have you lived here all your life?"

"No, I moved here with my-my parents", she forces.

"Are they still here?"

"Unfortunately," she growls.

"Ha! I know what you mean. My folks were downright crazy. That's why I left Earth at 17. Anything had to be better than listening to them ramble on about 'my destiny' and all."

"I'm sure you _don't_ know what I mean. My mother and stepfather are…are….." she clenches her teeth, unable to say more.

"Actually, it was just my mom and grandpa," he replies, moved by her emotion and compelled to share more about himself with her. "My dad died when I was five. I wish I remembered more about him. Mom and Grandpa put away most of his pictures after he died and hardly mention him at all. I think they wanted me to take over the shrine after my grandpa retired or died, but I wanted my own life. I spent most of my time with my grandma, but she died on my 14th birthday, which really messed me up. I was completely lost for about a year, getting drunk, cutting school, staying out for days at a time. My mom and Grandpa didn't have a clue what to do with me. I still really miss her," he concludes with a sad sigh.

Ryoko listens to him intently as they walk. It strikes her that he is willing to honestly share such feelings.

Abruptly she remembers why she's with him; he'd just purchased her for the night. No matter how nice he acts, he can't be that saintly.

'He's probably just trying to get my guard down so he can coax me into something freakish,' she speculates.

Frowning deeper at the thought that he's going to use her like all the others, she lowers her eyes back to the ground as Kagato has taught her. As they continue walking, Tenchi glances at her uneasily.

'I guess he's confused because he thought his pleasant mannerisms were working', she assumes.

"I like your dress," he ventures, hoping to plug the suddenly awkward silence with a little small talk. He felt her change in mood before noting the flicker in her aura. "Did you get it here on Rotaria?"

Her only response is silence. She doesn't even turn to look at him.

He says nothing else until they reach his room in the hotel.

"Well here we are," he announces, opening the door to a fairly spacious suite with a prime view of the city. "Make yourself comfortable."

Glancing around the room, she notes its apartment-like layout; a kitchen, a sitting area/living room, and a separate bedroom with a large wardrobe, dresser, entertainment center and king-sized bed. She heads for the couch in the sitting room.

"You want something to drink," he questions, heading into the kitchen.

"Sure," she replies, off-handedly.

'So that's his game', Ryoko smirks to herself, 'he likes his women drunk so he can "take advantage of them."'

But when Tenchi returns, she's pleasantly surprised as he hands her a can of soda. A quick sip reveals that it's just grape soda and not laced with anything.

A light, pleasant conversation ensues about nothing in particular, but Ryoko stays uneasy.

'Why is he going to all this trouble to make me feel welcome? I'm just a piece of meat to him! I wish I could figure out his motives,' she ponders as they chat.

'She's so wound up', he thinks to himself, 'like a cat ready to pounce. I wish she'd relax a bit.'

After finishing his soda, Tenchi excuses himself to "shake the weasel."

"You have a pet," she questions coolly, not betraying her revulsion and fear.

'Is that his thing? Animals? I've never done anything like that before. And I won't for this guy, no matter how nice he is. I guess I'll be killing another one,' she vows to herself.

"Uh, it means I have to use the bathroom," he explains sheepishly, reflexively scratching the back of his head. "I learned it from some sailors."

"Oh," she replies with a smirk.

'How stupid,' she laughs to herself. 'Maybe I've been worrying about this guy for nothing.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Just own the words, not the folks.

**A Small Transaction - Chapter 2**

Kagato smiles as he watches them walk toward the hotels on the harbor. This was the best plan he'd ever had for dealing with Ryoko. Mentally forcing her into submission and renting her out to whomever he chooses has proven both practical and profitable.

Since she was a child, he'd looked for sound methods of controlling her. Even after numerous beatings and punishments, she'd refused to obey him.

In her late teen years, Kagato attempted other means of control, but she'd always fight him off. Her struggles against him only fueled his desire for her and his determination to dominate and control her. During one of his many attempts to have her, she suddenly evoked an enormous psychic ability, hurling him across her room and through her bedroom door. The crash alerted her mother, who discovered him unconscious and badly hurt and Ryoko trembling in a corner.

Several days and many tests later, Washu discovered a barely tapped well of power within Ryoko. Deciding she and Kagato would be safer if Ryoko couldn't access that power while around them, they set up a psychic damper. Not only did it block Ryoko's access to the well of power, but it also allowed Kagato to use his own considerable psychic abilities to keep Ryoko consistently subservient.

The first few worlds they stayed on Kagato learned valuable lessons about the types of clients who shouldn't rent Ryoko. Loud, obnoxious types and total sleazebags broke his mental conditioning. She'd knock them out, or kill them if they didn't fall easily, and then try to run away, always forgetting that he had total control over her. He'd let her run a while, then clamp down on her spirit and force her to come to him. His lip curls in a sinister smirk as he remembers how much he enjoys "punishing" her. Sometimes he'll hook her up with a sleazebag just to force the issue so he can "punish" her later.

Remembering the money he'd just received for Ryoko, he puts half into the floor safe in the living room and half into the inside pocket of his outer robe.

'Maybe I'll buy Washu something nice,' he muses. 'She hasn't been herself since her cash cow escaped.'

Not that they needed the money, since there was plenty still in their accounts and Ryoko kept them living very well daily, but Mihoshi was Washu's pet project. In her former life, Mihoshi had been a Galaxy Police officer. Washu did something to her mind and turned her into a pleasure-seeking simpleton. She would do anything with anyone at anytime and Washu took her to the limit, sometimes renting her out to clients for weeks at a time. On average, she'd bring in 40 to 50 thousand Jurai a month.

'I'm sure we could have relied on Mihoshi for our entire lively-hood, and then I could have had Ryoko for myself,' he grins wickedly.

Unfortunately, Washu rented Mihoshi to someone that she wasn't absolutely sure about and she never came back.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

_Three months ago:_

Kiyone Makibi, a merchant from the Mendoza Province on Philos, knew Mihoshi from her stint there as an undercover operative. In the six months that Mihoshi worked on Kiyone's home planet, the two women became the best of friends. For years they shared their lives with each other, spending many holidays and vacations together.

If not for Kiyone's persistence, no one would have known Mihoshi was missing. When she suddenly resigned her commission and disappeared, there was much speculation at Galaxy Police Headquarters that Mihoshi's last assignment had simply been too much for her. Kiyone knew all about the last assignment. While working undercover on the hostile planet Sirus, a traitor in the Galaxy Police blew Mihoshi's cover. She was captured by one of the warring factions and tortured for nearly a year before the GP found her. She and Kiyone discussed it extensively, Mihoshi trusting that her dear friend would support her. They'd just made plans to meet on Philos the week she disappeared.

Even after calling in most of her favors and spending lots of her own money, it took Kiyone nearly 4 years to find Mihoshi. Her best lead came when she found out that Mihoshi was last seen having a drink with the infamous scientist, Washu. By the time Kiyone actually caught up with them, Washu was renting Mihoshi out on Rotaria. As there were no laws against forced prostitution on that planet, Kiyone had no legal recourse to get Mishoshi released.

A fortunate capture on her home planet put her in a position to set up a "rental".

When the authorities finally caught up with Ker Bryan, Kiyone knew she had to talk to him before he was sentenced for his crimes. . Ker had many dealings with Washu, some legit, some not. A mind wipe was the preferred method of rehabilitation for career criminals like him, so it helped to have 'friends in high places'.

Kiyone had gone to vocational school with the grandniece of the governor of Dakor Province, Nilsa, and they still spent a few weekends together when their schedules allowed. After Kiyone filled her in on the details of her investigations, Nilsa called her granduncle and imparted the importance of Ker staying exactly who he was for the time being. Her granduncle agreed and even offered to question Ker in his official capacity to speed things along. Ker was very forthcoming; especially since lying to the high council was punishable by surgical castration. Nilsa thanked her granduncle for his assistance and Kiyone got the information she needed.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Makibi, huh," Washu scowled at her. There was something about the girl that she didn't quite trust, but nothing she could put her finger on.

"Yes," she'd replied haughtily, as though it were an insult for Washu to even speak her name. Washu knew that most of the merchants on Philos were prima donnas, having done business with them before.

"And you were referred by Ker Bryan of the Dakor Province," she continued. Washu knew Ker very well. He was a scoundrel. If this Makibi had been referred by him, she wasn't as pristine as her demeanor implied. Still, she might have only heard about Ker and planned to use that knowledge for her own scheme.

'This girl could have just gone to public records and gotten my name from one of the merchant contracts I had with Ker', she deduced. 'Or…...'

"How do I know you actually know him", Washu scoffs, "you could just as easily gotten his name from the 'vid feeds." Washu also knew that Ker was always wanted for something.

"He said I should remind you of the mountains on Prius if you doubted me," Makibi whispered sensuously, leaning closer to Washu and licking her lips.

Washu's eyes got huge and she sputtered, "Well, yes……well……let's just uh…..get on with this then!"

"What about the mountains of Prius," Kagato had questioned, seeing Washu react in a manner quite atypical for her.

"N-nothing, honey," she'd stammered, knowing she'd have to tell Kagato every detail of her weeks with Ker in that paradise of pleasure and pain. Just a moment of remembrance aroused her; until Makibi spoke again.

"So, how much for three weeks?"

Regaining her composure, Washu replied, "For a friend of Ker's, 40,000 Jurai."

"27," Makibi retorted.

"39," Washu shot back.

"28."

"38."

"29."

"37."

"30 or I'm leaving her here. You and I both know she's only worth 25."

"30 then; 25 up front."

"22 and a half up front and you have a deal," Makibi declared, crossing her arms and leaning back in her chair.

"Fine," Washu mumbled under her breath.

This girl drove a hard bargain, but Washu knew she was right. The purity and innocence of spirit implanted by Washu started wearing off a few weeks ago and Mihoshi wasn't bringing in as much money. Not that things were bad, far from it. Washu just wanted to continue getting the same fees she had 5 years ago and Mihoshi's rate had fallen off about 15 percent. Washu planned to re-implant Mihoshi's conditioning and advertise for new clients once this latest rental was done.

But Makibi had taken Mihoshi for three weeks and never returned. Despite several attempts Washu made to contact her, Makibi hadn't responded. Washu inquired with the merchant's guild on Philos, only to be stonewalled on a planetary level and then informed that she was no longer welcome in their space.

She was furious! How dare they! Didn't they know who she was? She could reduce their planet to rubble with one, just one, of her thousands of inventions!

"All I'd have to do is push a button and it would all be over; that pitiful planet would be history", she'd grumbled, scowling at the image of Philos on her holo-laptop.

Though very angry, she decided a nice romp with her soul-mate would clear her head better than blowing up a very important world and then becoming wanted by nearly every cop in the universe.

'That would definitely be bad for business,' she laughed to herself.

Hopping up from the breakfast table in the kitchen, she made her way upstairs, giggling with anticipation.

"Kagato," she purred from the doorway of Ryoko's bedroom, "why don't I _show_ you what happened with Ker?"

He'd smiled evilly and unceremoniously dropped Ryoko to the floor. There were many bruises on her face and across her nude body as she sat up slowly, glaring daggers into Kagato's face before he'd turned with a sinister laugh and walked away.

'Ryoko will kill Kagato one day if he's not careful', Washu had grimaced.

Almost as if she'd heard her, Ryoko transferred her gaze to Washu, who'd shivered inwardly, knowing the only thing keeping her and Kagato safe were the inhibitors on Ryoko's psyche. Outwardly, she'd smiled menacingly and followed Kagato to their bedroom for a several hours of pleasure.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Just own the words, not the folks.

**The Sweetest Five Minutes - Chapter 3**

_**(Warning: Lemon in chapter!)**_

Once Tenchi's done in the bathroom, Ryoko follows his example. Deciding that maybe he's harmless after all, she takes a few more minutes to fluff up her hair and arrange her dress for more allure. The royal blue sheath hangs to her ankles, clinging lightly to her bosom and her hips before falling in a graceful swirl, hiding thigh-high slits on each side. With a few movements, she detaches the thin straps, exposing her smooth shoulders. She then removes the panel covering her stomach, revealing a glittering royal blue navel ring. The last thing she removes are her royal blue, three-inch spiked heels, allowing the jeweled rings on several of her toes to sparkle. Her ministrations are not lost on Tenchi whose eyes light up as she walks toward him.

"Wow," is all he can muster.

Quickly making his way to her, he runs his fingers delicately through the cyan tresses which mesmerized him. He is taken aback by a surge of energy accompanying his strokes. A gasp escapes him when he realizes what that means. Her aura is tangible! Thrusting his hands deeper into her thick curls and moving close enough to brush his check against her forehead, he revels in sensations he's never experienced before. He can feel the power in her aura firing every synapse in his brain, its waves coursing through his veins and nearly driving him into frenzy.

Drunk with arousal, he cups Ryoko's face in his hands and kisses her passionately. She responds eagerly to his fire and searching tongue. Wrapping his arms around her back, he draws her tightly against him, breaking the kiss momentarily. Grasping the cheeks of her ass with a moan, he pushes her against his growing hardness, resuming his passionate kiss. She finds herself wrapping her arms tightly around his neck and opening her legs to him. They squirm together and a low moan escapes her lips as she realizes he is arousing her.

'Wha-what's this', she questions herself, as a warm, sensuous feeling begins spreading from between her legs. 'That's never happened before! Is this what it feels like to want sex?'

Another moan escapes her as Tenchi backs up a little and begins lightly fondling her breasts and running kisses down one of her bare shoulders.

'I want him so much,' she admits to herself. 'Kagato will punish me if he finds out that I'm actually enjoying myself. I-I can't do this. It's too much!' A louder moan comes as Tenchi has discovered her lack of panties as he nips lightly on her neck.

Frightened by these new feelings and sensations, she pulls away and stumbles to the balcony for some air, realizing too late that the railing is a lot closer and lower than she thought. As she is about to tumble to the street at least 10 stories below, she feels arms around her waist pulling her back into the room.

"Are you okay," he whispers to the trembling woman, after they collapse in a heap on the floor.

"F-fine," she lies. Being that close again she can barely think for wanting him.

'This can't happen! He's just some man who paid to have sex with me just like thousands of others! Nothing more!'

But as he turns her face to his and kisses her gently, she knows that's not true. His kisses become more insistent and within moments, their clothing is discarded and they are writhing on the floor in ecstasy.

His thrusts, varying in speed and duration, are driving her closer to the edge of a completely alien experience; a real orgasm. She's faked more than she can remember and now, after dismissing her fear, can't wait to claim this new sensation for her own.

As she reaches her climax for what she realizes is the first time in her entire life, she nearly stops breathing and can only gasp her pleasure at this mind-blowing occurrence.

Her legs are wound so tightly around Tenchi's waist, it's a wonder he can breathe. Even so, he finds himself clinging to her almost as tightly as his seed fills her. Feeling her aura so strongly confuses him for many moments as her body completely relaxes beneath him.

Unbelievably content, she curls into Tenchi's arms, preparing to doze off until he nudges her, suggesting that the bed might be more comfortable. She crawls under the covers and snuggles against him a moment before drifting off.

As he watches her sleep, he begins unconsciously memorizing her face.

He tries to let her rest, but after about an hour of watching her slightly parted lips and the slope of her bosom and teasing himself with jolts of energy from her aura, he is fully aroused again. This time, he decides to dive right in and let her aura overtake him.

She is awaked by him kissing lightly around and between her breasts.

"Mmm," she intones as he slowly kisses up to her face.

After several sensual kisses, he moves from her soft lips to nip at her neck and shoulders, eliciting moans of pleasure. Moments later, he pauses to gaze at her again, noting a slight change in her aura.

'It's stronger somehow', he thinks to himself as he contemplates its pulse.

Ryoko feels him watching her and opens her eyes, shocked by the intensity in his face, but feeling a happiness she never knew existed.

'Why does it warm me so when he looks at me like that?' she sighs to herself.

With a low moan, he begins lightly running his hands up and down her sides and nuzzling his face between her breasts, alternating between nipping and licking them..

'Her aura is so powerful that I can taste it on her skin', he reflects.

His desire at its peak, he begins kissing her passionately again and soon enters her.

As he slides in and out of her warm center, he allows himself to fully bask in her powerful aura. Before, he'd only sampled it. This time he can't stop himself from falling in completely, succumbing to the most intense lovemaking of his life. As they rock together, Tenchi reaches out with his mind to join hers, expecting to heighten the sensations even more.

In his experience, the minds he enters always erupt with chaos and color. When complete darkness greets his astral form he pauses, unsure of what to do next. After a time, a door the same cyan of her hair appears before him. Carefully, he takes the handle and opens it, stepping slowly into what appears to be a large, dimly lit room. His footfalls echo around him as he cautiously moves forward, exploring a little farther. More surprises greet him as he spies a collection of crystalline shapes on low tables around the room. As he picks up the nearest one, he feels a faint energy pulse.

'How unusual,' he thinks to himself. 'I've never seen anyone's mind this…..sterile; this controlled. Almost cold. And I don't 'feel' Ryoko here at all.'

He puts the small, cat-like crystal back on the table in front of him. While heading for a nearby table containing a larger red jewel, something catches his eye; an odd shape on the other side of the room. Stepping closer he eyes the black obelisk curiously. It's nearly 5 meters tall, dwarfing the smaller objects around the room. A stark white etching of two intertwined names accentuates its front with blood red lines adorning its edges.

Drawn by a morbid curiosity, he reaches for its smooth surface. At his touch, the obelisk emits an ear piercing siren.

"Aaaaaahhhhh!" he screams into the darkness, clutching his head painfully.

As the sound threatens to render him unconscious, he lashes out with his aura, knocking the obelisk away. It shatters against something in a dark corner.

"Shit! What have I done? I'm in her mind! Who knows what harm I've caused," he curses at himself.

Quickly making his way across the room, he comes upon a life-sized crystalline Ryoko; but not the Ryoko he's with. This Ryoko has hair of spikes and a feral, yet seductive grin on her face. And this Ryoko exudes happiness. He can feel it from the pulsing, cyan-colored energy inside the clear statue. Around her feet, he sees the remains of the obelisk blowing away like dust. When his looks back up, the statue is smiling at him and he suddenly feels a warmth he can only imagine is Ryoko's soul. Shaken, his concentration slips, abruptly returning him to his own mind.

As the pleasure of being with Ryoko in the flesh coupled with the memory of the warmth in her mind fills him, he buries his face in her damp tresses and thrusts into her in earnest. It isn't long before Ryoko is thrashing with a huge orgasm as she screams his name and he climaxes right behind her. In that moment, part of him knows she's ruined him for anyone else.

During their lovemaking Ryoko swears she felt Tenchi inside her mind.

'But that's not possible,' she contends. 'Only Kagato has free reign there. Even my mother can't get past my shields. But I definitely felt…..something; a connection of some kind with him'.

'What the hell am I doing', Tenchi wonders, still enraptured by her. 'How can allow myself to get this attached to a woman who's just my rental for the night?'

Slowly opening her eyes, she is greeted by Tenchi's deep chocolate gaze and warm smile. Contentedly, she smiles back.

"Ryoko", he whispers sensuously, not realizing that his lips never move.

"Tenchi", she replies in almost a purr, also not realizing that her lips aren't moving.

He kisses her lightly, almost lovingly before cradling her in his arms. Completely fulfilled, they fall into a sound sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Just own the words, not the folks.

**Stained With Color Red - Chapter 4**

_**(Warning: Lime content in chapter.)**_

Ryoko awakens to warm sunlight on her face and with a contented sigh, snuggles further into Tenchi's arms. Idly she slides her fingers through the thick hair draped across his smooth chest, finding comfort and arousal in his ebony mane.

Draping her leg across his slim frame, she slowly straddles him, nuzzling her face into his neck. As she grinds herself against him, she nips him lightly with her fangs. He awakens with a moan and another passionate session ensues. This time when he enters her mind, the crystal statue is completely alive and he can't stop his astral self from taking her there on the smooth "floor" in her mind. Exhausted from his dual lovemaking, Tenchi collapses shortly after his climax. Ryoko purrs against him, basking in the warm after-glow and an inexplicable mental and emotional clarity.

'I could stay here forever', she affirms to herself as Tenchi lapses into a light snore beneath her.

As sleep begins overtaking her again, she suddenly realizes the significance of the sunlight; it's morning! Quickly she scrambles out of Tenchi's arms, her frantic flight jolting him awake. He watches her a few moments as she rummages around the room, throwing on her dress and gathering the collar and chain before searching the carpet for her toe rings.

"What're you doin'", he yawns.

"I-I have to go," she replies hastily. "Kagato will punish me if I'm late."

"Late?" He glances at his watch. "But it's only 9:30," he mumbles sleepily as he sits up and stretches.

Frozen in mid-grope of a ring, she slowly looks up to him.

"Wh-what time did you say," she forces.

The fear in her face alarms him.

"Ryoko, are you alright," he probes, advancing toward her.

"What time is it!" she shrieks; her face and voice lost in abject terror.

Startled by her outburst and appearance, he doesn't reply immediately. Dropping her things, she lunges for the watch on his wrist. The bright green display screams at her.

"9:30," she whispers, her lip quivering.

As she backs away from Tenchi, tears begin streaking her face as she involuntarily remembers Kagato's punishment the only time she was late coming home.

_zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz_

"_Didn't I tell you never to be here later than 7:30am," he'd questioned coolly. The fact that it was only 7:32 didn't matter to him. Neither did the fact that Washu stopping her needlessly in the foyer had caused her tardiness getting to him waiting in her room. Her explanation fell on deaf ears. Because she had never been late, she thought he'd be lenient. That expectation was sadly short-lived. The beating that followed took almost a week of regeneration for her to heal completely. _

_zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz_

That was more that 50 years ago, but it's as fresh in her mind as if it had occurred yesterday.

Eyes wide with fright, her head whips toward the balcony and a decision is made. Moving too quickly for Tenchi to react, she launches herself over the railing.

"No!" Tenchi screams futilely as her body careens through the air.

Foolishly, he runs down to where she lay, hoping against hope that she'd somehow be okay. It didn't matter that she'd fallen 14 stories; he couldn't believe she was dead. But there she was, lying in a growing pool of blood with a strangely contented smile on her face.

"Ryoko", he whispers, kneeling beside her, oblivious to the crowd forming around them and the blood soaking into the knees of his hastily donned sweat pants.

"Why, Ryoko? Why?" he implores, knowing she can't answer him.

One of the people in the crowd is Tenchi's boss. Not being one to wait for second hand information, he pushes his way to the front if the throng. What greets him is the body of a beautiful young woman and the familiar black mane of the last person he'd ever expect to see kneeling at her side.

"Tenchi!" he calls with surprise.

"You know this guy", an officer recently arrived on the scene inquires.

"He works for me. Tenchi? Tenchi, what's going on", he questions pulling him out of the pool of blood and leaning him on a wall nearby. The officer begins questioning him also, expecting Tenchi to have some explination for his presence and the girl's body, but he just stares in shock.

"She just….just jumped," is all he manages after several rounds of questions.

Realizing that he isn't going to get anything out of Tenchi right now the officer releases him into the custody of his boss. Several days later, the authorities have searched his hotel room and questioned Tenchi extensively about what happened that night. Finding no evidence of foul play, they are eventually forced to accept his version of events. On his side was the fact that Ryoko wasn't the first in her profession to commit suicide on Rotaria; or even in that city. Not that such knowledge helped Tenchi much. While he'd certainly seen a dead body before - at funerals or after accidents- he'd never witnessed a suicide; not even a ritual one. It shakes him.

Even two weeks after she dove from his railing, he still isn't able to accomplish much.

Staring at the ceiling and remembering their incredible night together, he can't believe that she's out of his life so soon.

"Like we could have had any kind of future", he mumbles to himself. "She was a hooker, remember! Not some girl you met at the noodle shop."

Admonishing himself doesn't help any. He can still see her face when he closes his eyes; still feel the tingle of her aura and her mind opening up to his.

'If only….' he muses. 'The connection to her was strong. Real. If only we'd had more time.'

He rolls over on his side with a sigh, catching the time on the clock; 4:30am. He might as well get up, there'll be no sleeping tonight. Throwing off the covers, he begins flipping channels until he finds something mindless to watch.

He hasn't been able to sleep since…..

His boss forced him to take a few weeks off saying he 'could make up the time later'. But Tenchi didn't want to make up the time later. He wanted to do what he had to so that he could leave this gods-forsaken rock behind forever.

'I've been with other women,' he reflects with a sigh, 'and some of them even allowed me to enter their minds. But I never "felt" any of them ever like I "felt" Ryoko. Being with her was just so…..'

"Aaaahhh! I've got to get out of this room!" he grumbles.

Quickly, he hops out of bed, throwing on jeans and a t-shirt.

As he's heading for the door to put on his shoes and get some air, something pokes into his foot painfully.

"Shit!" he exclaims. "What the hell is that?"

Down on his knees, he searches the thick carpet, finding a tiny silver toe-ring.

"She-she must have dropped it when……" he whispers sadly.

Cradling the ring in his hands, he sobs uncontrollably.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Just own the words, not the folks.

**What Future Do I See? - Chapter 5**

Ryoko opens her eyes a crack and realizes she's still alive.

'That fall should have killed me,' she reasons, 'So why am I not dead?'

A deep sadness covers her as she opens her eyes all the way and realizes where she is; Washu's lab.

'I _was_ dead. Dead and free from this horror. But she brought me back. She _always_ brings me back,' she concludes sadly.

Her freefall into the courtyard wasn't the first attempt to take her own life. Five other times she'd tried. All five times Washu brought her back.

The first time, she simply jumped in front of a random vehicle while standing with Kagato on one of the thousands of corners he sold her from. There was a moment of absolute agony as the blades from the street cleaner cut into her, then blessed oblivion. Five days later she awoke in her mother's lab aboard the Soja. Once she healed, Kagato voiced his displeasure with a severe beating.

Almost 80 years later she hung herself. When Kagato found her she'd been dead for close to two days, but her mother brought her back within hours. Kagato would have beaten her again after she healed had she not immediately swallowed one of her mother's experiments that ate living tissue. It took nearly a month of regeneration to heal from that. By that time, Kagato's rage had dimmed, but not his desire for her. Her first weeks of wellness, he mentally subdued her and forced himself on her repeatedly. She was almost grateful when he decided to put her back out as a prostitute. Anything was better than being his sex slave. Her life was still unbearable, so she continued to search for ways to end it. It would be more than a hundred years before she tried again.

That time, one of her clients wanted to prove he was a vampire, so she let him drink her blood. When he told her he wanted to call some friends over "for dinner", she knew he meant to let them do the same. The sensation wasn't unpleasant when he did it, so she figured it would be a fairly painless way to die. As each of the six he'd invited took their turn "drinking", she felt very sleepy before the blackness of death overcame her. She was found in an alley the next day and taken to the morgue as a 'Jane Doe'. Some how Kagato located her and claimed her body and Washu brought her back again. Since Kagato couldn't be sure if she'd tried to kill herself or if a client had simply gotten out of hand, he didn't punish her.

Nearly 200 years later, certain she'd found a solution to Washu always bringing her back Ryoko tried once again. It was a few months after Kagato had beaten her for being late. Thinking that it would be harder to save her without a brain, Ryoko took a shotgun to her head, only to wake several days later floating in the same tank full of green liquid she found herself in this time. Despair covered her and she gave up trying to kill herself. It was about that time she started believing Kagato's assessments of her as "a worthless whore". She continued to believe him, even when she'd fight him off of her or when she killed some of those sleazebags he set her up with.

Then she met Tenchi. And in that one night, he changed her.

'He made me feel like a star in the heavens' she remembers fondly.

She even felt surer of her own thoughts; no longer fretting that Kagato's imposed will influenced them. That's when she discovered the power lying dormant inside her, though she wasn't quite sure how to access it.

'It all seemed so perfect when I was in his arms', she sighs in thought, 'but then I woke up.'

She'd almost found the strength to run away for what she felt would be the last time, but her fear took over. It engulfed her and she could only think of the ultimate escape; death. Her body flew from the balcony before she realized it; Tenchi's anguished scream echoing in her ears. She saw him one last time as he knelt beside her, gingerly stroking her face. She'd smiled lightly to him before oblivion took her.

'Did he feel the powerful connection as well? I guess I'll never know,' she admits.

Accepting her fate, she closes her eyes and remembers her wondrous night with Tenchi, her tears stifled by the green liquid.

Washu's grumbling about 'ruining their plans for the weekend' wakes Ryoko with a start from her fretful doze. As she releases Ryoko from the regeneration tank, Washu scowls at her.

"C'mon, let's go. Into the bed", she orders, after using some contraption to quickly dry Ryoko off; even her hair.

Slowly, Ryoko climbs onto the "smart" hospital bed that will be her home while she finishes healing. After setting up an I.V., Washu covers her with a light blanket.

"Don't forget to eat while we're gone," Washu throws over her shoulder as she exits the lab.

'Gone? Gone where?' Ryoko wonders before a drug induced sleep overtakes her. It would be another 48 hours before she woke again, fully healed from the fall.

As Ryoko sleeps, Kagato and Washu beam aboard the Soja and head off into space.

"Where are we going," Washu questions eagerly. Kagato had only told her they were going to 'pick up something' and she couldn't stand not knowing.

"You'll see," he replies, casually.

"Well, how long will it take to get there?"

"Long enough."

"You're not going to tell me, are you," she grumbles jokingly.

"No."

"Party pooper. I'll just go wait in my lab."

"You do that," he replies affectionately.

Washu slips into her lab, meaning to use her instruments there to discern their course and destination. In her zeal, she forgets that Kagato knows her implicitly. The instant she initializes her sensors, a powerful gas erupts from her console, rendering her unconscious. Chuckling from the door of her lab, Kagato moves to place her in a more comfortable position than sloped half over the console and half on the floor.

"Poor little Washu," he intones, lying her gently in their bed. "When will you realize that I know your every thought. We've been together far too long for you to deceive me."

Placing a loving kiss on her forehead and then her lips, he retreats to the bridge as they continue on their course.

It's been nearly a century since he and Washu have 'broken in' a new girl to be their private plaything. Mihoshi was exclusively for the clients, so she didn't count, though they'd had several fairly adventurous nights with her.

On average, they'd "find" a new girl once every few decades. Either Kagato would charm them into believing he wanted them or Washu would coerce them with promises of sharing her well-known scientific knowledge. They tended to stick to runaways or those who shunned polite society as they were least likely to be missed. The last girl they had was a surprisingly depraved earthling, Sakuya, who they'd met on a beach resort planet. After she'd been properly 'initiated' by Kagato, she seemed to almost enjoy the sessions of humiliation and degradation he put her through. For a long while, he even forgot about his favorite plaything, Ryoko, and concentrated solely on her. Had he been less shortsighted, he'd have had Washu lengthen her lifespan, but he didn't. Consequently, she succumbed to the ravages of age and he discarded her somewhere in the Orion cluster.

After Sakuya, sharing Ryoko became tedious and mundane. It was time for some new blood.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Just own the words, not the folks.

**Another Victim On This Road - Chapter 6**

Sitting at her dressing table, the princess brushes her long, violet locks and hums quietly to herself. She's had a long day filled with seemingly endless diplomatic functions and now eagerly anticipates the peaceful night's sleep awaiting her. Her hundred strokes on each side completed, she rises serenely, her pale pink dressing gown trailing behind her as she tips to her bed. Slippers removed and covers tucked, she snuggles her face into the soft pillow. Sleep overtakes her almost immediately.

Awaking with a start from a very pleasant dream, she sits up slowly, reaching under her pillow for the bracelet she uses to channel her psychic powers. Something or someone was in her room; she could feel it.

"Lights," she calls to the computer, needing more than slivers of moonlight to confirm her suspicions.

When nothing happens, she tenses, immediately calling for her guardians.

"Azaka! Kamadake!"

Silence is her only response and she begins to panic. Desperately she tries calling to her mother telepathically, to no avail.

"Call anyone you want", Kagato begins in a chilling voice as he steps from the shadows, "they can't hear you."

The princess gasps loudly as he approaches.

"Who-who are you," she stutters, backing into her headboard.

"You may call him 'Master', Ayeka", Washu intones, a wicked grin on her face as she climbs onto the bed.

"You! How did you -- We banned you from our planet! The alarms are set for you! H-how….." the princess trails off, now even more terrified.

The last time Washu was on Jurai, she'd tried to kill the Emperor, calling it "an experiment to see how long it would take the planet to erupt into anarchy". When they failed to capture her, all security systems were set to detect her brainwave and DNA patterns in order to neutralize any threat she might pose immediately and with deadly force. Yet here she was, nearly 2,000 years later, mad grin in place as she terrorizes the first princess of Jurai.

Grasping her bracelet forcefully, Ayeka lashes out with her personal shield, knocking Washu across the room and Kagato back a few paces. Kagato turns to asses Washu's condition and Ayeka sprints for her bedroom door, only to be sent sprawling by a powerful force field. Painfully, she crawls toward the bracelet knocked from her grasp by the impact, getting within a few inches before her luck runs out.

"Bitch!" Washu's adult form screams at her, dragging her up by her hair. "I'd make you pay for that, but I want to save my energy for later," she finishes in a purr.

"P-please….please….don't hurt me," Ayeka murmers, tears streaming.

"It's not my call," Washu whispers, tossing her onto the bed and resuming her adolescent guise.

Ayeka looks up into Kagato's cruel gaze and realizes her ordeal has only begun.

"Stand up," he orders. She obeys, trying desperately to reach any of her family telepathically.

A powerful slap sends her reeling into Washu, who holds her fast. Moments later, Kagato is upon her, tearing the soft gown from her trembling frame.

"Very nice," he leers as Washu cackles in her ear. "Very nice indeed."

Kagato's lips upon hers repulse Ayeka as she pleads silently for him to stop, knowing it to be futile. Throwing her back onto the bed, Kagato and Washu slowly disrobe, groping and kissing each other for several minutes before returning their attention to Ayeka.

"Now the real fun begins," Washu croons, ignoring the princess' screams as Kagato forcibly takes her virginity.

Several hours later, they clothe the bruised and battered princess in one of her finest royal kimonos, taking several more and various other royal garments with them as they beam onto the Soja and speed off into space.

"Did you like your surprise," Kagato grins to Washu as they lounge in their room while the ship automatically runs a course designed to throw the Jurian fleet off guard.

"Mmm hmm. That was a great night. And thank you for my present! I can't wait to get her home!"

"I'm going to enjoy getting her out of her royal attire on a regular basis," he smiles.

"Mmmm," Washu replies, snuggling into his arms.

"In fact," he begins pulling away from her, "It's been nearly 12 hours since we had her last. Why don't we help her 'get settled'?"

Washu giggles as Kagato leads her by the hand to Ayeka's secured quarters.

Once they are back on Rotaria, Washu brags to Ryoko about their latest "acquisition" as she checks her vitals.

"Ayeka is a princess from the powerful planet of Jurai. Kagato designed this amazing device to get us inside the palace walls", Washu gushes delightedly. Ryoko does her best not to run away and puke, knowing Washu would merely tell her later.

'Best to get it over with now', she acquiesces.

Washu continues in that delighted tone about how she and Kagato had used another one of his devices to gain entry to the princess' room and disable her guardians.

"We took her the first time right in her own bed", Washu sighes before finishing out the story with how they were on the Soja and nearly back to Rotaria before anyone knew the princess was missing. Ryoko turns away at that revelation, hating her 'parents' even more and wishing again that they'd never brought her back. She'd died happy. But they wouldn't let her rest in peace and now she's back in this nightmare.

"You missed a treat, Ryoko", Washu concludes almost skipping away to join Kagato in taking the princess again.

A few weeks later, Ryoko is listening again to the princess' screams, trying not to imagine what's happening to her. Clenching her eyes shut and covering her ears, she tries desperately to block out the sound.

Every night had been the same since Washu let her out of the lab. Kagato would usually start his evening conquering Ryoko. Resigned to her fate, she would lie still as a corpse, allowing him to do anything he wanted, which didn't afford him much of a conquest. Sometimes he'd get frustrated and slap her around, but she'd never respond. Even when he skipped Ryoko, he'd still go after Ayeka. The screams several times a night were so commonplace that Ryoko had almost gotten used to hearing them.

Now Kagato's crazed laughter and the girl's screams filter through the pillow Ryoko has smashed around her head. Unbidden, tears leap to her eyes and run down her cheeks. Tears for herself and for Ayeka; understanding fully the princess' current experiences. Her own tortures and humiliations at Kagato's hands rush into her mind. So many years of mental, physical and emotional slavery endured because she had no choice. Any time she tried to fight him for real, not just to get him off of her, her mind and body simply shut down, leaving her as helpless as a rag doll. The controls on her psyche couldn't be circumvented or overcome, no matter how hard she tried.

"I wish I had the power to kill him," she sobs to herself. "Then he couldn't hurt us anymore; couldn't hurt anyone anymore."

Ayeka's screams and pleadings continue and Ryoko tries to hide within herself. Minutes later, it's over. Kagato is done with Ayeka for now.

As the girl's sobs echo in her ears, Ryoko vows not to let the princess suffer the same traumas she's endured most of her life. Somehow she had to get her back to Jurai.

'But I don't have any money of my own', she frets, 'And even if I took some from Kagato and Washu, I don't know any of the shuttle captains or merchants' and I can't board a regular transport without ID for Ayeka. The police think I'm dead, so I can't go to them. Besides, they'd probably think I was the kidnapper!

Her heart sinks until she suddenly remembers someone who might help her.

"Tenchi", she whispers.

'He'd certainly help a princess not suffer my fate, though it might be hard talking to him since he thinks I'm dead too', she reflects, 'but Ayeka can't stay here much longer. Kagato will destroy her.'

Briefly, she remembers Sakuya, the last girl Kagato brought home, and how she'd simply given in to lessen the severity of Kagato's beatings, eventually appearing to enjoy whatever he and Washu did to her. But Ryoko knew that in her heart, Sakuya hated it all. She knew from the lifelessness in Sakuya's eyes and the lack of emotion when she spoke. Once she caught Sakuya talking to herself in two distinct voices. Ryoko envied her for that, wishing desperately that she could escape within her own mind as well, but Kagato and her mother found ways to keep her conscious of everything that happened. Ryoko knew that they got a perverse pleasure watching her suffer and added that to the list of reasons to kill them.

'I'll have to tell him', she sighs with resignation. 'I'll have to tell Tenchi what my life is like so he'll understand how important it is to get the princess home. Once I can tell him that I'm alive, of course.'

Fretting for a few minutes more about that prospect, she decides to try and get some sleep. The princess had stopped sobbing, but she was sure that wouldn't last long. Curling into a ball around her scrunched-up, tear-stained pillow, she starts drifting off.

"I'll find Tenchi tomorrow," she yawns.

A few hours later, she is again awakened by the princess screams.

"No! Get away from me! Leave me alone!" Ayeka cries.

Something snaps inside Ryoko and she heads out of her room with a purpose.

'Not again', she vows to herself as she storms toward the bedroom where the princess is being held. As expected, Kagato is gleefully tearing off Ayeka's clothes, intending to force himself on her again.

Throwing herself at him, Ryoko knocks Kagato onto the floor near the dresser. Before he can react, she is pummeling him with the lamp from the dresser and her powerful fists. Her rage and Tenchi's earlier actions in her mind allow her to channel a power she'd only imagined.

"Die! You monster, die!" Ryoko screams repeatedly as his blood splatters all over her and the wall behind him. Weakly, he tries to defend himself, but proves no match for her fury. Part of her is repulsed by the blood, but the centuries of trauma fuel her need for revenge.

Hearing Ryoko's screams, Washu rushes into the room only to discover her worst fear. Ryoko has broken out of her psychic cage and is well on the way to making good her threats to kill Kagato. Reacting quickly, Washu grabs one of Ryoko's arms and slams her into the far wall of the bedroom hard enough to crack the plaster and the wall behind it. Turning to Kagato, she gasps at the bloody mess before her, summoning one of her holo-laptops to check his vitals. He's alive, but barely, and has lost a considerable amount of blood. Teleporting him to her med-lab, she advances on the nearly unconscious Ryoko.

"You'll pay for that", Washu spits vehemently before teleporting to her lab to take care of her husband. A painful moan is Ryoko's only reply.

Shakily, princess Ayeka climbs from the bed, her royal kimono in taters, and cradles Ryoko's head in her lap.

"Thank you", she whispers, carefully stroking Ryoko's head.

Ayeka is indebted to Ryoko as she wasn't sure she could have survived another attack. Kagato had been forcing himself on her every day, sometimes several times a day, since he and Washu kidnapped her more than a month ago. Washu occasionally joined him or sat and watched; a sickeningly joyful smile on her face. Ayeka was sure that they were trying to break her spirit, which she hated to admit was working.

Gazing at her now unconscious savior, she could only guess what kind of punishment that harridan Washu had in mind. Though she's only been on this planet a few weeks, she's seen how much Ryoko hates Washu; and also how much she fears her. She also knew every time Kagato forced himself upon her too.

'When he wasn't coming after me', she shudders.

Rage covers Ayeka. How Washu could treat her own child that way was incomprehensible! One day, she'd make that bitch pay for hurting both of them! For now, she had to be consoled by the fear she saw in Kagato's eyes as Ryoko pummeled him.

At that thought, Ayeka allows herself a vengeful smile.


End file.
